"There is no greatness where simplicity, goodness and truth
are absent."
Leo Tolstoy

Friday, June 01, 2012

A Sledgehammer To Swat A Fly

In this morning's Globe and Mail, four former environment ministers --Tom Siddon, David Anderson, John Fraser and Herb Dahliwal -- published a letter which they have sent to Stephen Harper. The four men -- two Conservatives and two Liberals -- question the wisdom of the Harper government's new environmental legislation, and the process -- the omnibus budget bill -- which is being used to pass it:

We are especially alarmed about any possible diminution of the statutory
protection of fish habitat, which we feel could result if the
provisions of Bill C-38 are brought into force. Migratory salmon and
steelhead are icons of our home province. Our experience convinces us
that their continued survival would be endangered without adequate
federal regulation and enforcement, particularly in the area of habitat
protection.

And they are angry that these changes have been hidden in the budget bill :

With respect to process, we find it troubling that the government is
proposing to amend the Fisheries Act via omnibus budget legislation in a
manner that we believe will inevitably reduce and weaken the
habitat-protection provisions. Regrettably, despite the significance of
the legislation, to date the responsible ministers have provided no
plausible, let alone convincing, rationale for proceeding with the
unusual process that has been adopted. Quite frankly, Canadians are
entitled to know whether these changes were written, or insisted upon,
by the Minister of Fisheries or by interest groups outside the
government. If the latter is true, who are they?

The people are asking, ‘what is this government up to?’ We’re not
stupid, we the people. We don’t understand why you have to roll this all
into one bill and ramrod it through Parliament.

“This is unbecoming of the Conservative party to which I belonged.’’

It's truly sad that John A. Macdonald's Conservative Party has been hijacked by a small but determined group of tinpot dictators, whose philosophy of government the former ministers accurately describe as, "using a sledge hammer to swat a fly."

6 comments:

Silly
said...

To understand Harper's supporters, you must understand that Harper has hijacked Sir John A's Conservatives only in name, and that his supporters know and welcome that. They realize it's very different from the old Progressive Conservative Party, which in their view was merely a mirror image of the Liberal Party, offering no meaningful alternative to it's middle-of-the-road policies. That's exactly what they're getting - bold, risky policies further to the right like those in the Omnibus Bill. How else can you explain Harper's continuing support?

I agree that Harper and his supporters have rejected Sir John and his party, Silly. They take their inspiration from Ayn Rand rather than Edmund Burke.

The question that remains is where will the old Progressive Conservatives go? Will they find a home in the Liberal or New Democratic parties? Will they take back their old party? Or will they continue to live in exile?

About Me

A retired English teacher, I now write about public policy and, occasionally, personal experience. I leave it to the reader to determine if I practice what I preached to my students for thirty-two years.